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A new mint green and white awning had been attached to the side of the camper and was now unfurled and provided shade over a big outdoor rug spread out in front of it. The door of the camper stood open, and an ADA accessible bar was affixed to it to provide support when climbing the stairs.
Maisie walked slowly toward it, marveling at all the changes. From where she stood, she could see new shelving filled with books inside. And the shelves were lit. There was also a new light fixture with a small fan attached to the ceiling.
She turned her head to see Dodge leaning against the side of his truck, looking ridiculously handsome in jeans, boots, a pressed shirt, and gray felt cowboy hat. He pushed away from the pickup and walked toward her.
What was happening? She didn’t understand.
She folded her arms across her chest as Dodge approached—a small action of defense, but still a way to keep herself guarded.
“What do you think?” he asked, gesturing to the new and improved bookmobile. “We worked all yesterday and most of the last two nights trying to get it ready. Wait until you see inside. Elizabeth arranged the books, and we bought and donated a bunch of new ones, including some large print editions. And I redid the floor and even added an air conditioner.”
“Why?”
His brow furrowed. “To keep it cool in there during the summer.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t mean why did you install an air conditioner. Why did you do all this? Did you just want my camper out of your shop? Did you bring this here so that now I will be fully out of your life?”
“No, Maisie. I did this for you. I wanted to—”
His words were cut off by the arrival of a silver SUV that pulled up to the curb, and three people, a man and two women holding clipboards got out and walked toward the bookmobile.
The judges.
Maisie whipped her head toward Natalie.
The volunteer offered her an innocent shrug. “I might have forgotten to call them to tell them not to come.”
“Wow, this is really nice,” one of the women said, poking her head into the bookmobile before reaching a hand out to Maisie. “Hi, I’m Carmen Martinez. I’m a librarian in Jefferson County and one of the judges of the competition.” Maisie shook her hand as Carmen introduced her to the other two judges.
“This is a really impressive bookmobile,” one of them told her. “Did you renovate this camper and create this all by yourself.”
“Um…yes…I mean…no…well, I did some of it myself but got help with some of it too.” With both Dodge and the judges standing there, Maisie was suddenly tongue-tied and nervous as sweat popped out in the middle of her back.
“It was a group effort,” Elizabeth said, coming up behind her. “The community really loves what Miss Graham has created with her bookmobile project, so several of us pitched in to make sure it was ready for the competition.”
Maisie smiled over at her friend, only now realizing that the rest of the Lassiter men were standing on the sidewalk behind her. She pressed her lips together, overcome with emotion that they all must have worked on it.
“I love the artwork on this outside,” one of the judges said, making a note on her clipboard. “Those book butterflies are really clever.”
Elizabeth leaned toward Maisie and spoke in a low voice. “Those were Dodge’s idea. And so was the ADA stuff and the awning. He’s barely slept the last two nights trying to get this ready for you.”
Maisie looked over at Dodge but then was distracted as one of the judges asked her if it was okay that they go inside.
“Yes, of course,” she told them.
“Per the rules, the judges go in by themselves, acting as normal library patrons,” Carmen told her. “You, as the librarian, can then come in and answer questions and walk us through your normal check out and returns procedures and what kind of outreach activities you’re doing in the community. We’ll be rating your bookmobile as we look at the following criteria: Innovation and Creativity, Accessibility, Community Engagement, Technology Integration, Mobility and Logistics, and Outreach. Do you have any questions?”
Maisie shook her head and pressed her hands against her legs to keep from wringing them together.
“Then let’s begin.”
Elizabeth gave her arm a reassuring squeeze as the judges went inside. “You got this,” she mouthed.
“Thank you,” Maisie mouthed back.
“Thankhim.” Elizabeth tilted her head toward Dodge, who was back to leaning against the side of his truck. The front window was down, and Moose was sticking his head out to rest it on Dodge’s shoulder.
For the next thirty minutes, Maisie answered questions and did her best to show the judges the features of the bookmobile, even the ones that were new to her. Had Dodge really built the little reception desk that fit perfectly in the front alcove? She noticed the new wiring and the little sign on the wall with a code for wi-fi and was so excited when she turned her laptop on and was able to easily sign into the library’s system.
